The Greek Village Series Series by Sara Alexi
The Greek Village Series #2
Black Butterflies
Sara Alexi
Marina is a gentle soul who makes a modest living in her corner shop in a tiny Greek village. Her husband died years ago, and her children have grown up. She is surrounded by people she grew up with and life is pleasantly predictable, if a little dull. But not even her daughters know that thirty five years ago Marina spent a lonely summer on an island, and the events that occurred have haunted her ever since. Now Marina's daughter is planning to move to the same island and the past and present threaten to collide with dreadful consequences. Black Butterflies follows Marina reluctantly revisiting the island and the emotions of the past. And she has a plan, of sorts... will she be in time to avert a possible tragedy? Sara Alexi's second book is packed with a troupe of colourful characters intertwining in a gripping story. By turn uproariously funny, touching or sad this book is the stuff of which all families are made. Hopes, fears, secrets and misunderstandings beset relationships. Discovery and acceptance bridge a divide.
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The Greek Village Series #3
The Explosive Nature of Friendship
Sara Alexi
The Explosive Nature of Friendship explores the tensions that exist between two lifelong friends. Mitsos, one of the friends, and now an old man, leads a solitary and ordered life, which is interrupted by the arrival of his young nephew, whom he reluctantly agrees to babysit. To amuse the child, he recounts tales from his own youth, which are romantic, tragic, funny, and ultimately touching.In the telling of these tales he is prompted to reassess his past and to come to terms with the events of a single day that has haunted him for twenty years, and all that led up to it. This reminiscing is also prompted by a letter which gives him a chance to rectify his biggest wrong and gain the peace he is seeking.But is what he has sought for the last twenty years what he wants now? Is he the man he thought he was? Set against a backdrop of a small Greek farming village, comedy and tragedy are present in equal measures. Sara transports you to a land of sea and sun as she explores what it means to be human, and fallible. The book examines the nature of friendship, and how our choices and our perceptions of our place in society can define us. Praise for The Explosive Nature of Friendship Not only is the story rich in content, but the manner in which Alexi writes opens windows onto a culture of Greece as warmly related as anyone before. The book is not a heavy read - it is that kind of book to savour on a few sunny afternoons and evenings. If Greece is anything like the manner in which Sara Alexi shares it then it is high on the list for journeys in the future. - Grady Harp, Hall of Fame Top Fifty Reviewer It was a real page-turner and evocative of a lovely life style perhaps lost to many of us in the modern world. - Dad Pad "K60PAD" (Wales, UK), Amazon If you have made the trip to Sara's two previous visits to the village, you are going to be highly pleased with the third. We find the familiar faces and places as it gets even deeper into the backstory of its characters. - Paul Howard, Goodreads Another fab book by this very talented author Sara Alexi. Within the first chapter of this book I was transported to that Greek village. I even felt as though the hot sun was on my skin. It's a book that you could read anytime, anywhere. Sara has a way of writing that enthrals me. Her books are very easy to read and the storylines are lovely and this one was no exception. I dont think you would be disappointed having read The Explosive Nature of Friendship but you will be disappointed that you have finished it. I would recommend this book to anyone. - Kittycate, Amazon I think the author has created a great world, full of colourful characters (both main and supporting) with interesting ways of life, all set in a beautiful surrounding. I can't wait to get on to the next one... - Kath, Goodreads This is a brilliant series of books, and this (the third) did not disappoint. I love the characters, I love the setting and I love the story. - Mrs CFC, Amazon If you enjoyed The Explosive Nature of Friendship, you may like the other books in the series: The Illegal GardenerBlack ButterfliesThe Gypsy's Dream**ReviewIt was a real page-turner and evocative of a lovely life style perhaps lost to many of us in the modern world. - Dad Pad "K60PAD" (Wales, UK), Amazon If you have made the trip to Sara's two previous visits to the village, you are going to be highly pleased with the third. We find the familiar faces and places as it gets even deeper into the backstory of its characters. - Paul Howard, Goodreads Another fab book by this very talented author Sara Alexi. Within the first chapter of this book I was transported to that Greek village. I even felt as though the hot sun was on my skin. It's a book that you could read anytime, anywhere. Sara has a way of writing that enthrals me. Her books are very easy to read and the storylines are lovely and this one was no exception. I dont think you would be disappointed having read The Explosive Nature of Friendship but you will be disappointed that you have finished it. I would recommend this book to anyone. - Kittycate, Amazon I think the author has created a great world, full of colourful characters (both main and supporting) with interesting ways of life, all set in a beautiful surrounding. I can't wait to get on to the next one... - Kath, Goodreads This is a brilliant series of books, and this (the third) did not disappoint. I love the characters, I love the setting and I love the story. - Mrs CFC, AmazonAbout the AuthorSara Alexi was born in Oxford, England. She has travelled widely and now spends much of her time in a tiny rural village in the Peloponnese, in Greece, where she is (very slowly!) renovating a ruined stone farmhouse, whilst observing the Greek way of life and absorbing the culture, to enrich her vision for both writing and painting. Sara began writing later in life. In school English lessons were a time of confusion, books indecipherable hieroglyphics. Dyslexia was not well understood then and no support was available. The joy of reading and writing were cancelled by the teacher's red pen ... Despite her dyslexia Sara qualified as a psychotherapist and ran her own practice for years. Her artistic nature was, at that time, confined to painting and she exhibited widely. In a casual conversation with a client she discovered that Agatha Christie, Jules Verne and Hans Christian Andersen were all dyslexic, and Sara's perspective changed. The world of fiction opened to her with this shift in perception and she has been a prolific writer ever since. Her 'Greek Village Series' has been very well received and provides a keenly observed, compassionate insight into the Greek people and culture, and the human condition in general. Watch this space for the next in the series, coming soon!
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The Greek Village Series #4
The Gypsy's Dream
Sara Alexi
Cross with her father, Abby, 17, boards a flight to Greece, but gets hopelessly lost and ends up in the wrong village. Alone, with very little money, no Greek and no way to contact her friend Jackie, who has lined up a bar job for her, Abby realises she has to stand on her own two feet for the first time... She meets Stella, who runs the local ouzeri - a rough and ready eatery were farmers gather to drink and take refuge from their domestic lives. Stella does not need a naive young English girl hanging around, and the ouzeri is not the glamorous bar that Abby had bargained for. But when events throw them together, the situation brings to the boil tensions that have been brewing for years, the ripples drawing in other people in the village, threatening Abby's ability to ever leave, culminating in shocking unforeseen events and the uncovering of dark secrets that change peoples' thinking about themselves and others permanently. If you like Gypsy's Dream, you'll love the other books in the series: The Illegal GardenerBlack ButterfliesThe Explosive Nature of Friendship**ReviewThis is the 4th book in the Greek village series and they just keep getting better. - Julie A. Tipton "Kansas Book Girl" (Geneseo, KS)This series is one of the best I have read. - Diane Zabriskie (PACOIMA, CALIFORNIA, US) I couldn't put this book down. - Epithet, Amazon Sara Alexi's Greek Village series just keeps getting better and better. - Alexes, Goodreads The Gypsys Dream, by Sara Alexi was a wonderful surprise. The writing was fresh and the style flowed well. It was almost as if I took a vacation in Greece for a week. I really enjoyed the characters and the story was full of life lessons. This was by far the best book Ive read in years. - Wade Faubert (Ontario Canada)
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The Greek Village Series #5
The Art of Becoming Homeless
Sara Alexi
Michelle has always had a positive attitude to work and responsibility and has made all the 'right' choices. Why then does she feel she might have ended up in the wrong place? Disenchanted with life as a high-flying lawyer in London, when her firm decides to send her to Athens to handle a case she jumps at the opportunity. Before work begins on Monday Michelle decides to squeeze in a sun-filled weekend on an island but a chance encounter on the boat across and a tragic accident throw her plans into disarray and threaten to change the entire course of her life... If you enjoyed The Art Of Becoming Homeless, you may like the other books in the series: The Illegal Gardener Black Butterflies The Explosive Nature of Friendship The Gypsy's Dream In the Shade of the Monkey Puzzle Tree
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The Greek Village Series #6
In the Shade of the Monkey Puzzle Tree
Sara Alexi
Mid-life brings problems. For Theo it makes him wonder if there is more to the world than the small village where he has lived all his life and, if there is, how far he needs to go to find it. The path he takes results in an unexpected journey that challenges his perception of everything he knew to be true.
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The Greek Village Series #7
A Handful of Pebbles
Sara Alexi
The latest novel in the Greek Village Collection follows Sarah who travels to the village in Greece for the wedding of her youngest son to Helena. 'This was an emotional book, of loss and regret and of the chance to change things and make a new start.' 'This story is so rich in content that you really feel for the characters and go on a journey with them. I am starting my own collection of pebbles ! A must read for anyone, anytime or anyplace.' 'This is Sara Alexi's seventh book in the 'Greek Village Collection' and is as good if not better than the first one! (No need to read in order.) The story is about loss, regret and the belief that you can be whoever you want to be...' 'Excellent writer , excellent book’ 'This is one of those books where you just don't want it to end.’ - Micheal Finlayson (Amazon top 1000 reviewer.) 'Her storytelling is so good it is easy to ignore the depth of her characterisation,' 'After reading this I have to say the Greek Village Series just gets better and better.' 'Was enthralled by the twists and turns; particularly at the end.' 'A well told story, real and rounded characters and a Greek background that is so well written you can feel the sun and smell that wonderful warm, baked earth and sea salt scent that that is unique to Greece.' 'The Characters, the descriptions and the whole atmosphere that Sara Alexi provides, a truly great storyteller.' 'This book is so evocative that I wanted to start reviewing it even before I’d finished the first few pages. The characters are so clear that I thought I knew them immediately I met them but, as in life, surprises are thrown at us at every turn. Any event described by Sara Alexi is so clear as to be almost real – I was a fly on the wall at many events throughout the book, thinking on occasion "Wow! Didn’t see THAT coming!"' 'This book is one giving hope to many who think their life, as it is, is all there is. It made me very reflective of my own life and left me wondering...' 'And again, Sara Alexi writes with perfect pace to have the reader slow down to the pace of the village, experience the dryness and heat and beauty of the place; I found myself literally relaxing, slowing myself down as I read and would stop from time to time to consider the meaning of life and the wisdoms shared. This is such an intelligent writer and thinker ...' About the AuthorSara Alexi was born in Oxford, England. She has travelled widely and now splits her time between her home in England and a tiny rural village in the Peloponnese, in Greece, where she is (very slowly!) renovating a ruined stone farmhouse, whilst observing the Greek way of life and absorbing the culture, to enrich her vision for both writing and painting. Sara began writing later in life. In school English lessons were a time of confusion, books indecipherable hieroglyphics. Dyslexia was not well understood then and no support was available. The joy of reading and writing were cancelled by the teacher's red pen ... Despite her dyslexia Sara qualified as a psychotherapist and ran her own practice for years. Her artistic nature was, at that time, confined to painting and she exhibited widely. In a casual conversation with a client she discovered that Agatha Christie, Jules Verne and Hans Christian Andersen were all dyslexic, and Sara's perspective changed. The world of fiction opened to her with this shift in perception and she has been a prolific writer ever since. Her 'Greek Village Series' has been very well received and provides a keenly observed, compassionate insight into the Greek people and culture, and the human condition in general. Watch this space for the next in the series, coming soon!
Read online